Please Help! Can't move forward.Portfolio Recovery and Stellar Recovery. WHAT'S NEXT?

Question

I have the same story most have heard 100x. When I went away to college I racked up debt and made poor financial decisons because I didn't have a good concept of money and Credit. Credit like most teens was this invisible forever giving gift and if I paid the minimums I would be ok'. Suprisingly, my minimum wage retail job didn't provide a stable income and my balances grew. I got overwhelemed really quickly and instead of dealing with the issue. I did a out of sight out of mind. Fast forward to present and I am cleaning up all the mess I made at 18-21 Y.O.  From this site I have made a some nice leaps to the right direction. Last year around this time I was at a 420 now I am at a 612! Recently got engaged and me and my Fiancee are looking to purchase a home by the end of this year/ begining of next year. My income is stable, my career is stable, I have a little savings. The only thing holding me back is CS. I thought my best way to move CS faster is to get my 2 Collections deleted. One is from Stellar Recovery for 152 (old comcast bill/cable) from 2013 and the other is from Portfolio Recovery for 676 (I think old BestBuy cc) from 2012.  I sent Stellar Recover a DV letter it arrived today. I sent the letter because I have heard a lot of positive things about Stellar. That they delete a lot of accounts and they do so quickly. Also, with such a low balance, I am hoping they feel it's not worth the man hours to even try to look for the information. In terms of Portfolio Recovery I sent a DV letter but the address was wrong (got the alert today) so I called Fedex and asked them to return it. I think that might have been a great mishap. I have read many articles and PR and they seem to be known as the Sharks of the Debt Collectors and sometimes sending DV is a death sentence. I recently read article that you may not even be on their radar but when you send a DV you are letting them know you are a person who is conscience about his/her debt and wants to fix it; it's like blood in the water. They will now pursue you without abandon and possibly sue. My question is, should I send the letter or leave it be? I'm just worried since I am in SOL for both I don't want to draw unnessary attention but I also feel like a waiting duck and desperately want to move forward in my life.

Answer 1

In the same article the repoter was talking to some of the Employees. A staff memeber is quoted as yelling out "We got one" it was a man who had some really large medical expenses and had been unemployed for a very long time. As soon as he got his first paycheck they started in on garnishing his check. They are ruthless. I understand thay "we" owe debt and I understand it should be paid. But sometimes I think we forget about the hummanity of it all.  Your post was really helpful. I can learn from what you went through and avoid PR NightmareCthulhunoodle wrote:
They absolutely do. They informed me they had another debt under my name. From 1997. Well past the statute of limitations on that one, but I'm sure it won't stop them. Thank goodness I'm smart enough to hang out on this forum and seek sound advice. And the kicker... at the end of the phone call in which I'd paid my years long debt, they asked me why I'd defaulted in the first place. "Pregnant, lost my job and had to move into my mother-in-law's house. Bad time all around." She asked if I was employed now. I answered in the affirmative. Who's your employer, came next. My answer: "I'd prefer not to say." I'm sure if I'd replied it would be logged in a database somewhere, waiting to be used.
and be on the offense of the situation and not defense.